The market summaries on this page are available in weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual editions, and also include a video, multimedia version of the monthly, quarterly, and annual editions. Market summaries contain information on the Dow, S&P 500, NASDAQ, Russell 2000, Global Dow, Federal Funds interest rate, and 10-year Treasury yields, along with highlights of recent events important to the markets and future dates for key data releases.

Key Dates/Data Releases

2/21: Existing home sales

Market Week: February 19, 2018

The Markets (as of market close February 16, 2018)

Stocks rebounded last week following a tumultuous few weeks of significant losses. Led by the Nasdaq, each of the benchmark indexes listed here posted solid gains. Both the large caps of the Dow and S&P 500 put up impressive gains exceeding 4.0%, as did the small-cap Russell 2000 and the Global Dow. Also of note is the fact that each index listed here is, once again, ahead of its respective 2017 year-end value. All told, last week was the best for stocks since early 2013. And, these gains occurred despite signals that inflation is beginning to pick up steam.

The price of crude oil (WTI) rebounded last week to close at $61.67 per barrel early Friday evening, up from the prior week's closing price of $59.24 per barrel. The price of gold (COMEX) also increased last week to $1,350.40 by
early Friday evening, climbing from the prior week's price of $1,318.50. The national average retail regular gasoline price decreased for first time in several weeks, falling to $2.607 per gallon on February 12, 2018, $0.030 lower than the prior week's price but $0.300 higher than a year ago.

Market/Index

2017
Close

Prior Week

As of 2/16

Weekly Change

YTD
Change

DJIA

24719.22

24190.90

25219.38

4.25%

2.02%

Nasdaq

6903.39

6874.49

7239.47

5.31%

4.87%

S&P
500

2673.61

2619.55

2732.22

4.30%

2.19%

Russell
2000

1535.51

1477.84

1543.55

4.45%

0.52%

Global
Dow

3085.41

3016.88

3144.75

4.24%

1.92%

Fed. Funds
target rate

1.25%-1.50%

1.25%-1.50%

1.25%-1.50%

0
bps

0
bps

10-year
Treasuries

2.41%

2.85%

2.87%

2 bps

46 bps

Chart reflects price changes, not total return. Because it
does not include dividends or splits, it should not be used to benchmark
performance of specific investments.

Last Week's Economic Headlines

Consumer prices for goods and services rose 0.5% in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index has risen 2.1%. Contributing to the price growth were increases in prices for gasoline, shelter, apparel, medical care, and food. The index less food and energy increased 0.3% in January and 1.8% over the past year. The energy index increased
5.5% and the food index advanced 1.7%. Rising consumer prices could spark fear of rising inflation (and interest rates) among investors, who may react by selling equity holdings, which, in turn, could drive down stock market values.

In yet another sign of potentially escalating inflation, the Producer Price Index increased 0.4% in January. Over the 12 months ended in January, producer prices are up 2.7%. The PPI less foods, energy, and trade services rose 0.4% in January, the
largest advance since increasing 0.5% in April 2017.

Retail and food service sales fell by their largest margin in almost a year in January, according to the Census Bureau report. Retail sales decreased 0.3% compared to December — the largest month-over-month decline since February 2017. January's drop was not as profound as it could have been, since December's sales figures were revised to show no gain from November following an initial report of a 0.4% increase. Notable drop-offs in January occurred in auto sales (-1.3%); building material, garden equipment, and supplies dealers (-2.4%); and health and personal care (-1.2%). Year-over-year, retail sales are up 3.6%. Nonstore (internet) retail sales showed no change in January, but advanced 10.2% from January 2017.

The monthly government budget for January saw a surplus of $49.2 billion. For fiscal 2018, the deficit sits at $175.7 billion compared to $158.6 billion over the same period in 2017. While government receipts are up 4.2% from the same period last fiscal year, government expenditures have increased 5.1%.

Industrial production edged down 0.1% in January following four consecutive monthly increases. Manufacturing output was unchanged in January for a second consecutive month, although the index has increased
1.8% over the past 12 months. Mining output fell 1.0%, while the index for utilities moved up 0.6%. Capacity utilization for manufacturing was unchanged in January at 76.2%, a rate that is
2.1 percentage points below its long-run average.

New residential construction, which finished 2017 in fine fashion, continued to surge in January. According to the Census Bureau report, building permits increased 7.4% from December and housing starts jumped 9.7%. Housing completions fell 1.9%, but are 7.7% ahead of their January 2017 pace.

Prices are rising in trade, both foreign and domestic. January saw prices for U.S. exports rise 0.8%, while import prices climbed 1.0%. The 1.0% advance (which also occurred last November) marked the largest one-month rise since the
index increased 1.2% in May 2016. Import prices advanced 3.6% between January 2017 and
January 2018. Exports have not risen by more than 0.8% since advancing 1.1% in May 2016.

In the week ended February 10, there were 230,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance, an increase of
7,000 from the previous week's level, which was revised up by 2,000. The advance insured unemployment rate remained 1.4% for the week ended February 3. The advance number of those receiving
unemployment insurance benefits during the week ended February 3 was 1,942,000, an increase of 15,000 from the prior
week's level, which was revised up by 4,000.

Eye on the Week Ahead

The Presidents' Day week is a slow one for economic reports. However, the minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting held in January are available and may shed some light on the Committee's take on inflationary trends and the prospects of increasing the federal funds target rate.

Data sources: News items are based on reports from
multiple commonly available international news sources (i.e. wire services) and
are independently verified when necessary with secondary sources such as
government agencies, corporate press releases, or trade organizations. Market
data: Based on data reported in WSJ Market Data Center (indexes); U.S. Treasury
(Treasury yields); U.S. Energy Information Administration/Bloomberg.com Market
Data (oil spot price, WTI Cushing, OK); www.goldprice.org (spot gold/silver);
Oanda/FX Street (currency exchange rates). All information is based on sources
deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or
completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein
constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and
should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee
of future results. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of
principal, and there can be no guarantee that any investing strategy will be
successful.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a
price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks.
The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of
500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ
Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on
the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index
composed of 2,000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally
weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market
indices listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.